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More than a few Second Lifers are feeling like the owners of mom & pop variety stores in small towns invaded by Wal-mart or Home Depot....
This rant in Second Life Herald is vitriolic, but not wrong.
This is not to say that there is no creativity left in any agency or corporation, because clearly Nissan, Wells-Fargo, Adidas, Sun and Reuters are doing some very interesting Second Life marketing. But critics are certainly right that the vast majority of traditional marketers are totally clueless about the Internet in general and social media in particular. Otherwise, how could you explain the fact that so many sites are still full of flashing banner ads and spiders and roaches racing across articles you're trying to read? (Did you ever click on one of those? I sure haven't)
Turnaround is fair play: Why don't some Second Life marketers have an in-world conference for RL marketers and tell us how they think we should be proceeding. Cause I guarantee you one thing: more big companies are coming to your world soon.
The Second Life Herald's most recent hissy fit about RW companies calling their entries into the metaverse "firsts." says:
"Where we come from it is not merely bad ettiquette [sic] to falsely claim a 'first' and ignore three years of pioneering hard labor by the people you are supposedly trying to market to, it is something of a crime to take credit for what others have done, and it is no less a crime to give credit to late-coming billion dollar corporations for what hard working people did all on their own many times over for three years. Until you learn that keep the fuck out of my way." says UrizenusSklar.
(He's right, and Wikipedia lists actual firsts in Second Life.)
Adrants publisher Steve Hall comments on that post:
"I would be more than eager to speak with you or anyone else who might help me shed some informed light upon the dim-witted ad community so that things might be set straight before the ad stampede begins as it inevitably will just it it does with every new thing."
Me too.
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Comments
Another good analogy comes from MarketingVOX, "...the equivalent of a Native American's 'what am I - chopped liver?' to those who claim Columbus discovered the New World."
Full story here:
Second Life Natives Restless, Ruminate Rebellion
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2006/10/27/second_life_natives_restless_ruminate_rebellion/
Posted by: Ann Handley | 10.27.06
The SL natives have a point, and any marketers who want to join the metaverse need to listen up. If they approach SL in the wrong way, their brands will suffer. But if they do it right, the opportunity is immense.
THere's a good article in Poynter's Tidbits" 11 Reasons Why Massively Multiplayer Games Will Change How Business Works http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=112625
The possibilities are so vast.
Posted by: B.L. Ochman | 10.27.06
I saw that, BL....a good, articulate piece. Here's part one of it:
http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=112619
(I'm a big Vincent Maher fan!)
Posted by: Ann Handley | 10.27.06
bl, good point. i posted a comment to lewis last post matching your thought about second life and his about vision, village and velocity. that's because it seems to me that the bandwagon of big corporations geting into second life just lack of what it needs in terms of vision. they are in because of the hype and have the money to support diversification of activity. what's your opinion about?
Posted by: gianandrea facchini | 10.28.06
I agree as well. It's kind of ironic that crayon - a startup and a company of bloggers, podcasts and Second Life residents - was even remotely lumped in with "the man", but I guess you can chalk that down to good old perception..
I likened the landgrab to the analogy of Wal-Mart opening in a small town, but the reality is that there is a massive anti-marketing sentiment out there right now - not just amongst SL purists, but indeed amongst many respected and recognized social media pundits (Cluetrain authors included)
As usual, the answer does not lie on any side of the extreme.
Brands have always been a part of our lives, so its inconceivable that SL would be brand-free...and if that was the feeling, perhaps some of the idealists should take that up with the folks over at Linden.
All I can say is that we are going to be respectful, considered and selective about how we go to market in SL and we will work with the community where we can...
Posted by: Joseph Jaffe | 10.31.06